


The Endurance of Stars

by vanillafluffy



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Advice on life, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fatherhood, Future Fic, Gen, Protective Bucky Barnes, Rites of Passage, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25431868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillafluffy/pseuds/vanillafluffy
Summary: Bucky is living in Wakanda with his daughter, who faces a rite of passage. It's difficult for her and agonizing for him, because no good parent wants to see his child suffer.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	The Endurance of Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cozy_coffee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cozy_coffee/gifts).



The child cries herself to sleep beside the meager fire. Around her, the darkness echoes with rustling grasses and the far away call of a night-bird. 

For hours, she’d trekked across the Wakandan plains, headed to the rendezvous, still miles away. She’d tried and failed to kill a ground squirrel for food--she must be very hungry by now--and she hadn’t managed to erect a shelter, either. Her first solo expedition is proving less than auspicious.

Still, it’s a warm night. Her traditional woven cloak should keep her comfortable, unless it rains, and it won’t. Her father glances skyward, reassured to see the star-spangled firmament above. He’s stayed out of sight, but has watched her protectively through her long journey. She may feel as if she’s alone, but she’s not.

She’s restless. More than once, she starts awake, looking around her rude campsite as if expecting unwelcome company.

Her father knows she won’t get any rest like that, and she has a long way to go tomorrow.

Quietly, he approaches the clearing the girl has taken refuge in. The flames in the little fire-pit she dug have all but gone out; he adds a handful of dried grass and some twigs, enough that little flickers of light soon quell the immediate darkness.

He sits back on his heels, watching her sleep. Someone once said that having a child means making the decision to let your heart walk around outside of your body, and he understands that now. Especially after her mother’s death--he is all she has, and he has to prepare her for life in a world of trials and dangers, for a time when he won’t be there to watch over her.

“Baba?” The child’s voice is breathless. She sits up, squinting across the fire at him. “It _is_ you!”

“We’re both going to the same place,” he reminds her with a smile. “Our paths crossed, that’s all.”

Firelight reflects tears running down her cheeks. “I’m a failure--I couldn’t even catch a ground squirrel! I tried to build a shelter and made a complete mess of it! I can’t do this!”

“Hush,” he says softly and moves to sit beside her. “No experience you learn from is ever a failure.”

She sniffles and leans closer. He drapes an arm around her slim shoulders. This could be any of the family camping trips they’ve taken…except that it’s just the two of them, not three. 

“Mama could do this. She’d have food and shelter and she’d probably be way closer to the rendezvous point. Why can’t I?” Sadness and resentment in her tone….

“She learned how while she was growing up. Like we’ve tried to teach you.“ He pats her shoulder. “Honey, I grew up in Brooklyn. The biggest green space I ever saw til I was in my twenties was Central Park. I didn’t go camping, if you want to call it that, til I was in the army, and then people were trying to kill me. Your mama was the one who showed me how to live in the wilderness.”

Well, not exactly, but Wakanda is different from the wastes of Siberia or the jungles of southeast Asia or South America. Explaining his crazy life to a ten-year old…no, she doesn’t need to hear all that. Things like Hydra and The Snap can wait til she’s older…much older. What she needs right now is confidence in herself. “Look up at the stars.”

Beside him, her head tilts back, presenting her father with her profile; there is his heart, in plain sight. “All those stars…they’ve been here longer than the ancestors, longer than any of us will ever be. The stars teach us endurance. They never surrender to the night, no matter how dark it is.”

The girl sighs. “I’m hungry.” She sounds matter-of-fact, not whiny. On the rare occasions when she cries, it’s more likely to be from anger and frustration than self-pity. 

It’s hard for a kid to pay attention with an empty stomach. “Here. Pretend it’s a ground squirrel.” He produces a filled roll stuffed with vegetable hash and goat cheese. She seizes it eagerly, taking a big bite. “You tried. I had my eye on you--you almost had him.”

“Thank you, Baba,” she says, her mouth full. She snatches quick bites from the somewhat crumbled pastry, stopping to breathe between bites, as if making an effort not to inhale it all in one gulp.

He tries to organize his thoughts. She’s independent for her young age, but she’s still a child. Today may not have lived up to expectation, but she has the ability within her, waiting to mature. He needs to nurture that spark of self-reliance.

“When you’re having a rough day and things go wrong, it’s hard to think of the good days when things went right. I won’t lie to you, my heart--life doesn’t always give you good days. That’s when you have to rely on endurance, like a star.”

“Like a star,” she repeats drowsily. She’s devoured the roll and now she’s relaxing, genuinely weary from her long day.

“Little one, believe me: You’re braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” He bends to press a kiss to her cheek. “You are your mother’s daughter.”

There’s no answer; she slumbers beneath the stars.

The fire burns until dawn as he watches his sleeping child, then he quietly creeps away. When she’s rested, she’ll be on her way again. 

Unseen, her father will follow her, guarding his heart from harm.

...

**Author's Note:**

> There's an AU I've been contemplating--Bucky's adventures in 2050. This is a prequel and is set around 2035.


End file.
